A "journey" involving running in place in the deep end. Quite possibly I've gone off the deep end.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Training log - Week ending 4/03/11

This week was 37 miles of “real running” and 57 “miles” pool running -- training log is here.

This was a cut-back week, as I raced Cherry Blossom on Sunday (race report). The pollen is still a major issue, but the inhaler definitely helps. I'm feeling good about the 10 mile race. I wasn't having a "A" day, which I attribute to the high pollen -- I awoke congested and feeling heavy, and knew the trees were going at it even before I checked the pollen count). But I really feel I ran the best race I had in me today, and you can't be unhappy with that. And, one of the things I love about racing 10 milers and half-marathons is that I generally get a real fitness boost from them.

I'm also feeling my fitness come back, as well as my race savvy, and both of those are comforting. Onward with the training!

Tuesday: In the morning, 9.5 miles on the track. Did a 1.75 mile warm-up plus drills and strides, then a track workout of 800m repeats. The stated goal was 6-10 repeats. I decided to shoot for 8, with the first at 3:10, and the rest at 3:04-ish. Actual ended up being 7 repeats at 3:10, 3:05, 3:04, 3:03, 3:02 (too fast), 3:00 (way too fast), 3:05 (over-corrected), so pretty much on target save for the 5th and 6th, which were too fast.

I used my inhaler after my warm-up, just before the workout started, and it really kicked in as the workout went on. I made myself hit the brakes for the 7th, with hopes of maybe doing more than 8, but instead got pulled at 7 (I'm guessing because I had a race this weekend). Still, felt like a very good workout, if a bit unsatisfying in that I felt like I wasn't working hard enough. Afterwards, I hit the pool for "4.5 miles" of pool-running (45 minutes). In the evening, a weights session with a personal trainer, followed by "4 miles" of easy pool-running (40 minutes).

Wednesday: In the morning, 10.5 miles outside on a hilly route at aerobic/easy pace (8:25 pace), followed by "7.5 miles” of easy pool-running (75 minutes). Yoga class at night.

Friday: In the morning, 6 miles easy on the track (8:56 pace), plus strides and drills, followed by "7 miles" of easy pool running (1:10 hours). Pilates class in the afternoon.

Saturday: "3 miles" of very easy pool-running (30 minutes, but not sure I should even count this). Lotsa foam-rolling/stretching later.

Sunday: 1 mile warm-up, then 10 mile race in 69:39 (6:56 pace). Went out in 7:13, then 7:05, then dropped the pace. I would have liked to have closed a bit stronger than I did, but my lack of mileage plus the pollen really caught up with me. Later, "6 miles" of very easy pool-running (60 minutes).

Full slew of race reports here (from my first in June 2007 to 2010) and here (2011).

workouts

(you can click on the link to see the details)

Pool running conversion

I convert my pool-running into “mileage” with this formula:

1)10 minutes “easy” in the pool equals one mile

2)workouts translate by time into mileage, with the recoveries not counting for mileage.For example, I would normally cover half a mile in 3:00 during an interval workout, and 1.5 miles in 10:00 during a tempo.So 8x3:00 at interval effort is 4 miles, and 10 minutes at tempo effort is 1.5 miles.